Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

The attack will be led by Liberal Group leader Gijs de Vries, who will warn colleagues that they could face a backlash from the public unless they act swiftly to implement long overdue internal reforms.

His fears are shared by other political group leaders, who are concerned that the Parliament’s recent achievements could be overshadowed by allegations of internal mismanagement.

The warnings come as the institution’s most senior members face increasing pressure to implement fully a decision taken back in July to reform the system of MEPs’ daily allowances.

Concern has been fuelled by a recent bout of unflattering media coverage of alleged abuses of the system by members, the way their pension fund operates, and the Parliament’s new premises in Brussels and Strasbourg.

“If we do not tackle this quickly, the institution’s image will suffer. Sleaze in the European Parliament is rising to the level where it risks doing very serious damage to the image of the institution, and indeed to the European Union as a whole,” said De Vries.

He believes that many of his colleagues have failed to recognise that continued inaction on a range of internal issues will have longer-term consequences.

“If the European Parliament does not reform, a cloud will hang over it until the European elections and will make it difficult to get the right level of public attention for the excellent work it is doing,” he added.

Senior Euro-politicians point to the results achieved by its committees of inquiry on BSE and transit fraud, MEPs’ imaginative use of their budgetary and legislative powers, and their ability to root out cases of mismanagement and fraud, as examples of achievements which risk being ignored.

The Dutchman’s concerns are echoed by the leaders of the Parliament’s two biggest political groups, European People’s Party president Wilfried Martens and Socialist Group leader Pauline Green.

“All that we have done and the important reforms we have achieved will not be taken into account if we are not able to implement reform within the Parliament,” said Martens.

“Group leaders are absolutely united on the need for reform. There is not a single one saying anything else. Procedures in the Parliament must be fair, open and honest,” insisted Green.

Parliament President José María Gil-Robles, who has made internal reform one of the main priorities of his term in office, is also becoming increasingly exasperated at the inaction and foot-dragging.

He has taken the unusual step of telling the institution’s 14 vice-presidents who make up the Parliament’s bureau that when they meet next Monday (15 December) they must endorse, without further debate, the steps they agreed to take five months ago to reform expenses. Under this reform, the payment of MEPs’ daily allowances will be conditional on participation in key votes on EU legislation.

In addition to the swift implementation of decisions already taken, De Vries wants the Parliament to commission a leading international consultancy firm to carry out an immediate, independent evaluation of the institution’s administrative procedures and to investigate problem areas such as “building policy, unnecessary and expensive outfitting, informatics and security”.